


'Til You've Made Your Own

by chancellorxofxtrash (PhoebeMurdivine)



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Body Horror Mentioned, Guilt, Hinted Polyamory, Mostly Implied Shipping, Multi, Notes explain how is it canon divergent, Polyamory, Spoilers, other characters have cameos - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-30
Updated: 2017-05-30
Packaged: 2018-11-06 22:12:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11045370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhoebeMurdivine/pseuds/chancellorxofxtrash
Summary: Waking up might be just a first step, but it's still a step that has to be made.





	'Til You've Made Your Own

**Author's Note:**

> Mostly canon compliant, but they were not brainwashed in one swoop with a video in this version but it was a slow and steady indoctrination, with Chiaki's death being the last push.  
> Honestly, I set out to write some wacky romcom hijinks, and this happened instead. I'm terribly sorry.

All in all, cutting his hair should not have been a priority, at all, but even before their former underclassmen had left the island, Hajime scrambled to find some scissors for himself. He couldn’t help but notice how all three Future Foundation members followed his movements, as he basically flopped out of the pod with no grace whatsoever, long, black hair flowing everywhere (seriously, what was he thinking when he let his hair grow like that, it was horrible), and his trembling hands settling on a pair of scissors.

Right.

They probably weren’t happy about the fact that he had something sharp in his hands.

His hands were really trembling - all these weeks, and his hands weren’t moving, all his muscles felt tense and uncomfortable either way, and he saw the rest of his friends still had trouble climbing out from their own pods.

Friends…? He felt a pang of uncertainity, confusion, and swiftly shook his head.

Friends. That’s it, they are friends. He had to remember it.

Makoto Naegi was the first one to realise what he wanted to do - he smiled, walked closer, taking the scissors out of his hands gently.

“Alright, we can give you a haircut. You just gotta sit down for that, you are too tall. Or maybe I’m the one who is too short.”

-

The other four had more troubles getting their muscles to work for some reason.

“It’s unfair, you are in much better shape. It’s not even your talents I guess, it’s just unfair” Kazuichi muttered, trying his best to file his way-too-sharp fingernails, his own hands also shaking, but absolutely refusing any help.

“Maybe it’s just luck” Hajime’s voice was dry, and what he got was a glare from Kazuichi.

“Not helping.”

“I’m serious. I have luck too.”

“Doesn’t explain shit about you being better already. You didn’t use your muscles for real for weeks either.”

“Not to mention, aren’t you more muscular than us?” Fuyuhiko muttered, one hand pressed over his right eye.

“Is he?”

“Isn’t he?”

“Damn you’re right, he’s ripped. More muscles mean they should hurt more aren’t they?”

Hajime felt his face heat up, and just shook his head.

“Can we uh… stop? Fuyuhiko please don’t poke your… uhm… I mean don’t poke the eye.”

“...can you get it out?”

Complete silence, and the nail file from Kazuichi’s hand clattered to the floor, causing him to climb under the table to recover it, cursing under his breath.

Hajime’s heart started to sink, and Fuyuhiko looked at him with his good eye.

“...beside the fact that I don’t want it in, it’s probably not good for my health either is it? I mean… now you have all these… I guess what I’m asking, do you have something in your brain now that could help me?”

Could he?

Could he help him?

He felt panic swell up in his chest, his hands started to shake… and then something cool rushed over him. It was like someone walking past him with a soft breeze, as if saying _I got this._

When he spoke again, his voice was way more calm, as if he was just talking about sweeping the floor instead of removing an eye.

“Yes. Yes I can help you.”

-

“I have an idea on how to bring them out.”

Hajime’s soft voice rang through the empty facility (or was it _Hajime?_ It was hard to tell, especially when he was facing away from them. Hard to see the expression on his face, but nobody voiced it), and it made everyone face towards him.

“The Neo World program is advanced enough to rearrange their avatars inside, but it’s going to need some help. If I manage to make an Alter Ego program to perform psychodives to sort out any possible instability that might have been caused by the extreme trauma of being killed, I’m positive restoration can be complete.”

“Dude…” Kazuichi muttered, scratching his head. “Slow down a bit, okay?”

“Point is, there might be a way for me to wake them up. We just need to figure out who to wake up first.”

The temperature in the room dropped, and Hajime still didn’t look at them, but folded his hands, and they could see his hands shaking a little.

Oh.

Hajime now, apparently. The… _other one’s_ hands don’t shake.

“I mean… we could risk it, but I think it’s more… sure. Only focus on one at the time, bringing them out one by one. Safer. I mean yes, a computer can multitask more, but I… still wouldn’t risk it, you know? I wouldn’t risk them not waking up because we would like all of them to wake up at the same time, trust me, I’d like to have them back as quick as possible, but I…”

There was a hand on Hajime’s shoulder, and he slumped under Sonia’s touch.

“It’s okay. If we can… if any of us can help you…”

-

They decided to wake Mikan up first, because of three reasons.

One, Akane needed medical attention because of her malnourishment, and just like Fuyuhiko, others will probably need more medical attention.

Two, because of the state her body was, hers was most likely needing urgent medical attention too.

Three… they wanted to see how much will someone who died in the game remember. And for that, wasn’t the best candidate Mikan?

“Hey… Hajime…”

Kazuichi was the one who sat down next to him, his voice unsure, helping out with the mechanical part of the work as much as he could, while Hajime’s mismatched eyes were focused on the screen.

“...what will we do, if she will be in the same state as she was when she died?”

He didn’t stop working, but only replied after a few moments.

“That will be an answer to our questions.”

Almost monotone voice, which sent shivers down on Kazuichi’s spine.

“I… did not ask that.”

“I know. I am doing everything within my power so the psychodi--”

“Please, Layman’s terms” Kazuichi raised his hands. “If you could talk to me about engines and shit, I could follow you, but the programming and psychological parts are beyond me.”

He stopped typing for a few moments, thinking, before resuming his activity.

“Think of the influence of Junko Enoshima on our minds as a virus, and the Neo World program as a medical therapy. You got it that far?”

“Yeah… the thing I do not get is, that everyone said we would either forget everything about what we had done, or we would forget what happened in the Neo World program, and revert into Ultimate Despair… but neither of it happened.”

“That would have been the case, if everything went according to plan, but that did not happen, so the outcomes with us was not exactly what expected. That’s why it’s unsure what’s going to happen with the ones who died, as that wasn’t a planned scenario either. What I’m trying to do is to rearrange their avatars, and then simulate a scenario for them, where they also choose whether or not they want to come back or not, and then shutting the scenario down.”

“Is the choice necessary?”

“I believe it’s our choice that allowed us to exit the program the way we did.”

“Yeah” Kazuichi couldn’t help but let a little bitterness drip into his voice. “That’s how you can be here too, can’t you? When everyone thought it would be either Hajime or you, now both of you exist.”

The typing stopped, and he - Izuru Kamukura - slowly turned to look at Kazuichi, with mismatched eyes.

“That is correct.”

“So. How does it work? Do you two just flip a switch in your minds?”

“We are both conscious all the time. We can choose to ignore what is going on, effectively turning a switch, if you will, but it’s not like what you could have seen in movies. We are not split personalities. I don’t believe that there had been a case similar to ours in our reality.”

“You are creepy. I don’t like you.”

“That is unfortunate. Should I stop working then?”

Kazuichi stormed out, and Izuru only looked after him for a few moments before turning back to work.

-

Mikan was the first.

She screamed, she cried, she hid herself in one of the side rooms, and it took some intense coaxing to make her come out, and she only came out eventually when they mentioned Akane needed help, and only after looking after her she allowed herself to be examined too.

Hajime sighed, a small smile in his face, dark circles under his eyes.

“Alright. Time for the next one.”

-

They decided to go with bringing the rest of them back in the order they died.

That seemed like the most logical thing to do.

-

“I think there are no more Golden Makangos…”

Sonia hugged herself, looking down at Gundham’s sleeping form.

“...or any Makangos. Or Novoselic. Or…”

Hajime walked over, putting a hand on her shoulders, as she took a deep breath.

“I… I am fine.”

“You can let yourself go, you know.”

She did not look at him, and he just continued.

“We all… I mean…”

“Yes, I know I… we all did horrible things. I was supposed to take care of my people, and I…”

There were no words to make the past better, so Hajime just squeezed her shoulder a bit, as she continued.

“...on the other hand, I guess you would qualify now as a king. You remember all the things I said? The medical degree, the…”

Hajime laughed a little, awkwardly messing up his hair, letting go of her shoulder.

“...I guess that’s one way to look at it.”

Finally Sonia looked at him with a trembling smile on her lips, and tears in her eyes.

“I know… I know this is the part where I should say I did mean what I said. About… but I don’t know. You understand it Hajime, right? Not just because of…” Sonia glanced back to Gundham at this point. “But… you understand it, right?”

“...I had no expectations, you know. Honestly, the island itself was very confusing.”

“Many conflicting emotions?”

Hajime laughed again, uncomfortably.

“You could say that. But we are friends, aren’t we?”

“Of course we are, Hajime. Don’t imply such silly things.”

“Then that’s a good start for all of us.”

-

It was easier to keep calling him Byakuya.

After bringing back him, and Teruteru as well… it took some time to coax Teruteru out of the kitchen their building had.

It had to be Byakuya himself who walked in, and demanded food.

Whatever the two of them talked about, it seemed to work out in the end.

-

“I dunno how could I look into Mahiru’s eyes.”

Fuyuhiko muttered, sitting on the ground in one of the back corridors, where Hajime found him.

“So many things… it’s all… I don’t know how will I do it.”

Hajime sat down next to him, pulling his legs up, so he could rest his arms on top of his knees.

“I think we will figure it out. All of this. One by one. And after Mahiru, it’s Peko’s turn.”

“I know, and I have… so many things to tell her too. But first…”

He didn’t finish. Not like he had to.

“You know… your sister was in my class.”

Fuyuhiko looked at him, and his eye widened - Hajime still looked forward, hands shaking a bit.

“She walked in, and on her first day, she insulted all of us, calling us worthless trash. She went around saying how she will make it to the main course, and she kept fighting with Sato over how she treated Mahiru… she wasn’t an easy person, you know.”

A small laughter escaped Fuyuhiko’s lips.

“Yeah… that sounds like her.”

“But she… really loved you, you know. She… she told me she wanted to have a talent, because otherwise she felt like she was not worthy to be on your side when you will take over the clan. She really… really wanted to help you.”

Complete silence.

Hajime pretended not to notice how Fuyuhiko wiped his face.

“Seriously… what a dumbass.”

They sat there in silence for a few moments, before Fuyuhiko shuffled a little closer to Hajime.

“Hey… you had to have an impression on her, if she told you that.”

“I don’t know about that… I just tried to comfort her, you know.”

“That’s exactly the point, dumbass” Fuyuhiko twisted around to look at Hajime, grabbing his arm. “People don’t just walk up to us to comfort us or befriend us. We were Kuzuryu children, ya know what the hell does that mean. People were mostly scared of us. Hell, even my classmates had to be herded together back then… but you, you talked with my sister. You tried to comfort her. Even in there, on the island, you didn’t give a fuck, and walked up to me to talk with me. Like the complete dumbass you are.”

“...you have a really roundabout way of thanking me, Fuyuhiko.”

“Surprised?”

“Not at all.”

Looking into Fuyuhiko’s eye, having his face close, he felt his face heat up a little.

“I probably should go back. I have work to do.”

Fuyuhiko frowned a little.

“Not that I mind chatting with you, but I was talking with Hajime here, you know.”

Izuru tilted his head a little, as if surprised.

“You caught on immediately?”

“...look, can I have Hajime back? Just a bit longer?”

“...you do know that we both are always present, right?”

“I know, but… please.”

The answer was some rapid blinking, but before Hajime could open his mouth, Fuyuhiko just pulled himself closer, resting his head on Hajime’s shoulder.

“You tell the others this, I’ll fucking kill you” Fuyuhiko muttered, and Hajime could see how his cheeks reddened. “Just… let’s fucking stay a bit like this, okay?”

And so they did.

-

“It’s not like I don’t know. You don’t have to judge me.”

Hajime muttered when he was alone, apart from the sleeping figures in the pods, and he glanced at his reflection.

Obviously his reflection did not react.

This wasn’t that kind of a situation.

“...I know you don’t exactly _judge_ me either, but… come on, you are making this more difficult than it has to be. You know what I mean.”

He let out a frustrated sigh, leaning back on his chair, looking up to the ceiling which was illuminated by the eerie green glow of the pods.

“I know there are some of them who… like me” Hajime felt his face heat up. “But I… you know as well as I do how confusing all of this is. For me, and you are here too... “

Weird feeling inside his chest, like it wasn’t concerning him at all, which just made him feel annoyed.

“Do not shrug this off, you are here, so we can’t ignore this! No one can. Like… we talked with Sonia, and Fuyuhiko, and Kazuichi is avoiding me _again,_ thanks for _that_ by the way, but it’s not just them. And Sonia and Fuyuhiko are waiting for others too, it’s just… complicated.”

Something… something vaguely like amusement? No, nothing that strong. More like a memory of amusement.

“...yes. Yes, I _am_ sassing you. Get used to it.”

Seriously, sharing a mind with an apathetic super genius was kind of a drag.

-

Again, what Fuyuhiko and Mahiru talked about was a mystery. Or maybe they just agreed to wait for Peko, so the three of them could talk it out.

“Dude, are you eating normally?”

Akane frowned, and Hajime just looked at her with a tired expression.

“Yeah… of course. I forgot how much I missed Teruteru’s cooking.”

“Pffft, I know, right? But if you’re eating… are you sleepin’ enough? You look seriously pale, dude.”

“Ah… you know how it is. I have to pay attention that the psychodive program is running correctly.”

“Can’t ya know… Izuru do it? I mean no offense, but he’s the one doing the heavily lifting there, isn’t that right?”

Hajime laughed a little.

“None taken. But we still share a body, so if one is awake, the other is awake too.”

“But if ya had chased Fuyuhiko to sleep finally, you should follow your own words too.”

“...you got me there.”

He didn’t actually go to sleep, of course. Someone had to keep an eye on Peko. Confusing feelings aside, he was absolutely positive Fuyuhiko would strangle him if something would have happened to Peko.

And just as he thought that, he saw the light on the screen light up.

Alter Ego finished his job.

“...Akane. Get Fuyuhiko.”

He didn’t need to say it twice, as he opened up Peko’s pod, he somewhat registered Akane wobbling outside, her legs still hadn’t regaining their strengths, and she was shouting Fuyuhiko’s name.

“Peko… do you hear me?”

She didn’t open her eyes, but her face finched, and there were footsteps.

“Peko!”

Hajime stepped away from the pod, as Fuyuhiko almost fell right into the pod as he rushed over, and Peko finally opened her eyes.

-

“Hajime, can I ask something?”

He withdrew his hands from the keyboard, as he turned towards Peko.

“Sure.”

“The Alter Ego program that came down and freed us… was programmed by you, right?”

“Yes, of course.”

Peko nodded.

“By that, I assume it was mostly done by Izuru, correct?”

“...you got me. Not like it’s a secret, but… he is me and I am him. It’s not easy to separate us.”

“I noticed that. I assumed it was him working over Hiyoko right now, but as I addressed you… it was you.”

Hajime smiled, and slowly nodded, and seeing that, Peko continued.

“Say… do you know the kind of tasks Alter Ego had to do inside our minds?”

He visibly hesitated.

“If… you are referring to technical terms, yeah…”

“No, I mean on a practical sense.”

“...we did not watch what was going on, you know. We figured it would be personal, so…”

“No, I know that. But do you _know?”_

Silence, as Hajime looked away, so Peko continued.

“I think you do know. Or at least you have an idea. That’s why you modelled the Alter Ego after Izuru Kamukura and not Hajime Hinata.”

He still didn’t reply, and Peko just reached out, putting a hand over Hajime’s hand.

“I am not angry, you know. Neither are the rest of them. I talked to them, you know. I doubt the rest of our friends would be angry at you either. What I want to say is… thank you.”

Hajime smiled a little, looking up at the screen.

“...Young master and Mahiru also asked me to talk with you, though. The three of us… would like to talk with you, if you have some time to spare.”

“...allow me to finish this, then we can talk.”

-

They, predictably, asked him about Natsumi and Sato.

So he told them about their arguments how they spiralled out of control, and how powerless he felt.

“Wait, you saw me?”

“Yeah… you actually stormed in right next to my desk because that’s where Natsumi and Sato were arguing.”

“...oh. Sorry.”

“Don’t even worry about it. You didn’t know me, after all.”

Eventually, after finishing the story Hajime turned away, starting to walk outside, when he heard Peko’s voice.

“...you said you felt powerless. This is just a hunch, but… was this part of the reason why you became Izuru?”

He stopped on his tracks, and did not look back.

“There were… many reasons for that. Some of them look stupid now, you know? Others… not so much.”

“So… you wanted power, because you couldn’t stop it, and you couldn’t figure it out either.”

“And what did I gain?” He just spread his arms a little, shifting his weight from one feet to another. An easy stance, not turning back around “The power was there, and did nothing in the end.”

A sigh from behind his back as Fuyuhiko’s annoyed voice rang.

“Seriously, Izuru, I’m starting to think you are only doing this because you want to test whether we notice it’s you or not.”

Izuru did look back at that, with a blank expression.

“I meant what I said. I had the power. I did nothing, but cause destruction. Did I not?”

“You did not remember your original reasons, so there was no way you could follow it up, and then you were isolated” Mahiru said softly. “That was not your fault.”

“Was it really not my fault? You know there are things, that were definitely my fault.”

Peko was the one who moved, stepping closer to Izuru, her red eyes unwavering, her gaze meeting Izuru’s mismatched eyes.

“Aren’t we all here to deal with our pasts and create our futures? That includes you too.”

“Listen to Peko” Fuyuhiko agreed, pushing himself to his feet as well. “You might have caused destruction with your power in the past… but think about what you are doing with it now.”

-

Hiyoko next, hiding in her sharp words as usual, but not willing to leave Mahiru alone. Then Ibuki, smile still on her face, if a bit cracked, but she did her best to liven up the gang, as they started to work on bringing Nekomaru back, which caused Akane to grow more and more restless - and when he finally did come back, he did his best to help ease everyone’s muscles, and work out a good dietary plan full with the best kinds of supplements for Akane, who, while was getting better, still had a long way to go.

Then Gundham was next.

-

“You hadn’t talked with Sonia that much since we came out of the simulation.”

Kazuichi looked up, eyes narrowing when he saw the blank look on Hajime’s face.

No, not Hajime.

“What is it to you? Not like you care.”

“Just an observation, that is all.”

“Well, can you observe somewhere else, then? I’m sure you have Gundham to look over.”

A sigh, and he shook his head - and when he talked again, Hajime’s voice was obviously annoyed.

“Kazuichi, what is wrong?”

“Oh. What do you mean?”

“You know exactly what.”

Kazuichi turned away, looking back to the little trinket he had been messing with - he looked like he was making Minimaru again.

And again.

And again.

They were starting to pile up.

“I just… gimme time, man, okay? I… You know that I… you’re a… friend. You know that.”

Kazuichi didn’t look up as he fumbled over his words, and Hajime stepped closer - but saw Kazuichi’s body tense up, so he decided to not push that issue and back away.

“Of course I’m your friend.”

This didn’t seem to calm Kazuichi down, if anything, he looked even more tense.

“You… I mean… you as in Hajime… you are my friend… but… it’s like there is a side of you I don’t know. Literally.”

“...just like there is a side of you I don’t know, you mean? Not like we had known each other for the past years or anything…”

“Yea but… I’m still Kazuichi, ya know? Like the others are still themselves too. But you… you are not just Hajime.”

Of course he wasn’t.

“Well, maybe all of this would go somewhere, if you would stop avoiding me?”

“Yea, yea, easy to say, super genius. Cut me some slack, okay? Besides, he’s a dick. Why does he care that I didn’t talk to Sonia? It’s not like… sure she’s great but that’d never work, and a man gotta accept that, right? She has a thing for Gundham, god knows why. And… well, I might get _that other one_ a bit more, but…” Kazuichi trailed off before shuddered. “Nevermind. Just… forget about it, man.”

-

“I need to know you do not pose danger towards my young master.”

Izuru was writing something down to some papers, as if he was planning something, or taking notes - and to this, he just glanced up, mismatched eyes meeting red ones.

He did not answer, so Peko continued.

“I trust Hajime, and I trust my classmates. You, I do not know. I understand I may sound ungrateful, but I need you to unde--”

“So boring” Izuru’s monotone voice interrupted her, and she looked taken aback.

“...excuse me?”

“Peko Pekoyama, the tool of the Kuzuryu clan. Here I thought you would be able to step out of this role. Or at least you would try, after the events of the island. Well, no, that was a lie. Hajime hoped. I was wondering whether my predictions about you being unable to do it would be true or not. But here you are. Not proving me wrong at all” Izuru’s voice had no emotion in it whatsoever as he turned back to his work. “Therefore, boring.”

Stunned silence, and when Peko found her words, her voice didn’t betray her emotions either.

“You may judge me, and it may be easy for you to step out of one role into another. I am willing to do my best to be on the side of my young master as his equal, but his safety will always be the most important to me. Therefore, I still need to know whether or not you are a danger to him.”

“Even if I were, you would not be able to stop me.”

“If you were, I would find a way. Maybe not in swordfight, maybe I could not kill you, but I would still try.”

Izuru glanced at Peko from the corner of his eye, and he didn’t answer - and Peko continued.

“I think you will not try to hurt anyone here. Why would you make effort to bring everyone back to life, if you would want to hurt us? That would be nonsensical for you, and probably not that interesting either.”

“If that is your opinion, why are you asking me?”

“Because I want to hear it from you. And because I know Hajime is important to my young master, and that he trusts him. I do not want you to betray the trust my young master places in Hajime’s hands.”

“What about your trust? Do you trust Hajime?”

“Yes.”

There was no hesitation, and that made Izuru raise his head and fully face Peko, his eyes studying Peko’s face.

“Even if you do not trust me, trust him. Both of us are here. It’s highly unlikely I could do something he does not want me to do.”

“You said highly unlikely. Therefore, you did not even try.”

“I have no need to.”

Peko smiled - a small shadow of a smile, clearly something she did not intend to do.

“That’s what I needed to hear. Thank you, Izuru.”

She turned away, but Izuru called after her.

“So you are aware how Fuyuhiko feels? About you, about…”

“Yes” Peko interrupted him. “He can’t keep this a secret from me. Not like he really tries. I know him too well.”

“Do you know your own emotions, though?”

Peko looked back, their eyes meeting again.

“Do _you?”_

-

“So as I gather, you have a demon possessing you.”

Ah, right. Hajime should have expected that reaction from Gundham after waking up.

“I shall lend you my power to send the demon out of your body. My body might be still weak from my slumber, but my spirit is completely revitalized! I shall completely…”

While speaking, Gundham reached a hand out towards Hajime’s chest, and he instinctively caught his hands, as if Gundham would really have the power to push Izuru out.

“N--no, it’s okay. He’s not a demon, so uh… I don’t think your power would affect him.”

Gundham’s eyes narrowed, as he stepped closer, clearly trying to see something Hajime had no idea what it was. But who could know anything with Gundham?

“So than what is he? A parasite creature? Is it a…”

“No, uh, I don’t think…” He stumbled over his words. “I… I don’t… he’s just Izuru. He is… I’m fine with him, okay? He is part of me, and I am part of him. I don’t think even you could separate us.”

“You should not underestimate my dark powers. I could rip this… Izuru’s soul out of your body, if you shall desire such.”

“I can assure you, I have no such desires.”

Gundham looked at him, and then laughed.

“A-ha! I see you had passed my test. While you held my hand, my powers kept seeing the way your mind worked, and you probably would have fallen into ashes, if you has as much as lied to me. It had been you and your real thoughts, and your other personality had not tried to deceive me with lies.”

A stray thought crossed Hajime’s head that _a warning would have been nice_ but he decided against voicing it, and just smiled a little.

“Well, I guess you still holding my hand is still part of your clever plan, then?”

Okay, so maybe Hajime was the one who grabbed Gundham’s hand first, but perhaps unknowingly, Gundham’s own fingers wrapped around Hajime’s hand too while they talked. Now he looked down at their joined hands, before yanking his own hand back, trying (and failing) to hide his furious blush behind his scarf.

“I---indeed! You are indeed a singularity, Hajime Hinata, to see through my plans this easily! But now, I shall attend to my other duties!”

Hajime just looked after Gundham, who was basically fleeing out from the room, and just shook his head with a sigh.

He really had no idea what the hell was slowly getting himself into.

-

There was one more person remaining.

One last person still asleep.

Hajime looked at him, the green glow of his pod giving his already pale skin a really unhealthy, sickly tone.

He took a deep breath.

Izuru opened the pod up to check on some settings, he needed to know what else did they do when hooking him up, after all, he had a lot more conditions compared to the others.

He also took his bandaged wrist in his hand. He originally planned to check on how the hand was attached, but…

“Isn’t it risky, opening the pod?”

Izuru glanced up. Kazuichi stood a fair distance away, arms folded in front of his chest, eyes narrowed.

“He is still connected, I am not endangering him. But his conditions had been one of the worst out of everyone, not to mention the circumstances of his death. I need to have enough data, because with him, the smallest misstep can cause irreversible damage.”

“You are creepy, you know that, right? You are talking about his life and death like it is nothing.”

Izuru was still holding the wrist, as he straightened his back, therefore lifting the long-nailed hand to Kazuichi’s point of view.

He didn’t miss how Kazuichi shuddered glancing on it.

“It was my understanding you don’t like him. I did not expect such concern from you towards Nagito Komaeda.”

Kazuichi spluttered, and his cheeks reddened - he wasn’t being flustered, no. This was anger.

“Look you creepy fuck, just because… I mean he… he is a creepy fuck, but he is _our_ creepy fuck! He is our classmate. We do not want him to be dead, I know human emotions are over your field of understanding but…”

“Why aren’t you asking what you came here to ask?”

Izuru’s monotone voice interrupted him, and Kazuichi looked taken aback. Izuru put Nagito’s hand back, and closed back the lid of the pod.

“If you had came to call me creepy again, do not waste your time. That is boring, and I have more important things to do. Or if you can’t find anything to do, make yourself useful. Make a hand for him.”

“...what?”

“I said make a hand for him” Izuru repeated himself. “He’s going to need one, and that is probably less time-consuming to make, compared to a biotic eye, what Fuyuhiko would need. Work with Mikan to make it anatomically workable. Make yourself useful.”

-

“You are not a demon.”

“You had been staring at me for fifteen minutes just to figure that out?”

Izuru didn’t even look up and Gundham from the screen, as he answered him.

“Bwahaha! So not even you could feel my dark energies scanning you! Truly, it is I, Gundham Tanaka, who is still the undisputed master of the Dark Arts!”

Oh. He had been nervous Izuru was better than him at that.

Of course he was.

“Aren’t you interested what did I figure out?”

No reply, but not like Gundham wanted one.

“You are like a homunculus, a being created to a flask, all-knowing about the world.”

“I do not live in a flask.”

“Do not feign ignorance, you do live in a flask. A flask made of flesh and bone that is Hajime Hinata.”

Now that made Izuru stop typing, and just looked at Gundham, two pairs of mismatched eyes meeting.

“What are you saying?”

“Those wicked scientists at Hope’s Peak intended to wipe Hajime Hinata, and put you, their new, all-knowing homunculus into a flask of mortal flesh that could move and talk, not restricted to a simple flask made of glass or plastic. But they did not consider the fact that Hajime Hinata is a singularity, whose presence is not that easily destroyed, therefore the two of you are allowed to coexist together now. A fusion so wicked and so unheard of, you two could bend the world to your whims. Of course your powers are still not enough to reach the terror that my Dark Devas could inflict in the hearts of mortals, but I believe that if you and I would battle, that would bring the end of the world!”

“I think we had enough world-destroying now.”

“I do agree with you. That is why I’m here to tell you, that if you would turn on mankind, I would be forced to stop you. It is a warning to my soul’s chosen companion.”

“I see. So that’s your interpretation of what happened.”

“It is the truth, which I had told you because I believe that you, a homunculus, and Hajime, a singularity are able to handle the truth. The others shall believe the other explanation, their mortal minds would not be able to handle it.”

In the back of his mind, Izuru could sense Hajime’s baffled amusement, but he could sense an inexplicable fondness too, and Izuru felt himself a bit at ease upon that.

There had been no change in Nagito’s status lately, and with Kazuichi’s outbursts…

Gundham’s atrocious worldview was like a light in the darkness, ironically enough.

They made a note of never telling him this, though.

-

“Will you guys stop staring at me? Kind of unnerving.”

All four people currently in the room stayed silent, with four pair of eyes (well, three, plus Fuyuhiko) followed his movements, and Hajime sighed.

“Will you tell me what’s wrong?”

“When did you last sleep?”

Fuyuhiko was the one who asked it, and Hajime looked taken aback. He hadn’t expected that, out of all questions.

“I… uh. I slept a bit a few hours ago.”

“Dozing off for half an hour and then returning to work does not count as sleep, dumbass.”

Hajime’s eyes trailed towards Nagito’s sleeping form, and Sonia sighed.

“Hajime, the program is running, it is doing its job. You could sleep.”

“But…”

“There shall be no arguments! You need your energy to be recharged for our upcoming battle!”

His back tensed - none of them wanted to think about it, but it started to seem inevitable.

But then Gundham and Peko moved - Gundham stepping behind Hajime, wrapping his arms around Hajime’s waist, lifting him up, and Peko grabbing his legs.

“Wait wha--”

“We said you need sleep, dumbass.”

“Bu--”

“I--- I will loo-- look after him!”

He didn’t even notice when did Mikan come in, but once she was there, Hajime’s kidnappers deemed the issue closed.

-

Hajime tried not to think about anything after he woke up, Fuyuhiko’s face pressed into his back, and Peko wrapped around Fuyuhiko, but her arms also embracing Hajime, with Sonia’s perfume still lingering in the room, and Gundham leaning by the side of the bed, sleeping.

He just gently unwrapped himself from the bed, and tiptoed back to his job.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Sonia obviously caught her in the corridor as soon as he stepped out.

“I really… really need to… check if everything is going well.”

“It had always went well before. I’m sure Nagito will be awake soon as well.”

-

“Do not judge me.”

Hajime muttered, and obviously there was no answer. Still no judgement either, obviously.

“This might be just partially because I’m the one who is bringing them back. Well, we are. You get my point.”

He glanced at his reflection in the bathroom mirror before continuing.

“...yeah, it is stupid. It started on the island with all of them. And…”

He thought of white hair and a wide grin.

And then he thought of the red-nailed hand still attached to his arm, and he felt something deep within him move. Maybe it was irritation, maybe it was disgust, maybe it was anger. It was hard to tell with Izuru, and everything was hard to tell when it came to Junko.

Hajime preferred not thinking much about Junko. He didn’t really know her after all.

The others, including Izuru, did not have this luxury.

“I want Nagito to wake up as well, and then… and then we should help end the tragedy. And after… after we can figure out this… whatever this is… don’t be so uncaring, this includes you too. If I am involved, so are you. You should know that.”

-

“I’ll just tell you straight up, alright?”

“That’s what I’ve been asking you from the beginning.

Izuru’s voice was deadpan as usual, and Kazuichi’s hands were shaking as he glared at him.

“Shut up. I… I’m not good with this shit, but Nagito might wake up soon, and Fuyuhiko pointed out that if I don’t tell you now then who the hell knows when I’ll have the chance to do so.”

No answer, Izuru just turned his head to face him, waiting for the explanation, and Kazuichi took a deep breath.

“It’s your fault.”

Still, quiet.

“Well, not fully, but you… you could have stopped her. You could have. But you didn’t. You went with it, and now… now all of us are scrambling to get together the pieces, guilt is eating us alive, and you… you just look at us with those empty fucking eyes of yours. And it pisses me the fuck off! There. Now you fucking have my opinion.”

With that, Kazuichi turned away, starting to walk out, when Izuru’s voice interrupted him.

“Would it change anything if I’d say I’m sorry?”

Now it was Kazuichi’s turn to be quiet, as he looked back, and Izuru stood up from the chair, mismatched eyes were like staring into Kazuichi’s soul. His hair was slowly starting to get longer again, although obviously nowhere near close to it’s old length.

“If I’d say I’m sorry, if I’d grovel and fall apart in guilt would that change anything? Would it bring the dead back from the dead?” Izuru reached into his pocket, getting out a pin, seeing which almost stopped Kazuichi’s heart. “Would it bring her back?”

“...don’t fucking tell me you cared about her. You barely even knew her.”

“That is right” Izuru nodded, putting the pin back away. “I did not. But her death was the last push that pushed you all down to despair was it not? Junko Enoshima had been whispering poisonous words into your ears for long, and that was the last straw. Was it not?”

Kazuichi’s whole body was shaking as Izuru walked closer to him.

“You said I look like I’m not guilty. Would me screaming and crying make you feel better? Would it change anything?”

“That’s not what it is abo---”

“I am bringing them back, am I not?”

Hearing this question felt like Izuru punched the air out of his lungs, but he did not stop there.

“I can not bring back the friends and family we all killed, or all the dead ones. Or even Chiaki Nanami. But I can bring your classmates back and that’s what I’m doing. And after we are done, we will go back and help the Future Foundation. What else is there to do for us? Is there any other way to make amends?”

Complete silence, and now Izuru was standing only a few steps away from Kazuichi, who laughed a little, without humour in his voice.

“Man… why the hell do you have to make sense? Now I feel uncomfortable hating you.”

“You might have been antagonistic to me, but it’s not the case with Hajime, is it?”

Now that made Kazuichi recoil, and take a few steps back.

“Wait wha-- that’s not the point here right now!”

“It is getting boring” Izuru shook his head. “You. Fuyuhiko. Peko. Sonia. Gundham. If our memories can be trusted, probably Nagito as well. I hope you are not all planning on entering some dramatic rivalries. I have no interest in participating in rivalries, and as Hajime is very keen to point out to me, because we share a body and a mind, I am involved either way.”

“...yeah? And what about your feelings?”

“Here I thought you assumed I had none of those.”

“You just showed that it is not the case, so would you answer the question? After all… you held onto Chiaki’s pin did you not? Hajime was not present in your mind when she died.”

Izuru took out the pin again, looking at it, with an unreadable expression.

“I do not know. I do not know what did I feel for Chiaki Nanami, or were those feelings affected by Hajime’s own. Thoughts are easier to separate than emotions are. So I can not answer your question just yet.”

Kazuichi couldn’t help but grin at that.

“Hey look… we found something you are not absolutely amazing at.”

There was no reply, and Kazuichi sighed.

“Well, either way… it’s not like either of us is really ready for a relationship now are we? I guess we have to deal with all this mess at first. And then figure out romance. Sounds like a plan to me.”

-

_Izuru Kamukura… no, you are Hajime Hinata, right?_

He was awake, and his fingers were shaking when he took Hajime’s hand to sit up.

Hajime pretended he was fine, that he was okay, but there was a lump in his throat, and only partially because of seeing him again. Only a small part.

There was a part of him which was…

Concerned.

Yes, the best word for it.

But then....

_What about the others?_

And Hajime couldn’t help smiling, and then Nagito also smiled, seeing the other faces again.

And there were smiles on those faces as well.

-

“You look nervous.”

Hajime smiled a little, nodding, looking out to the sea, and felt Nagito’s hand on his shoulder. His real hand - he could see how Nagito would sometimes look at his fake hand, moving his fingers, trying to get used to it. Kazuichi and Mikan did a great job with it, but still.

“There’s… still so much to do.”

“Yes, there is. Let’s go step by step, should we not? That way, we will surely succeed. I don’t think we can go wrong.”

“Because the Ultimate Hope is here?”

Hajime’s voice was obviously sarcastic, and Nagito shook his head much to his surprise.

“Because we are here. And we will all create the future filled with hope. We created the despair, it’s only fitting we help to raise the hope to defeat it, right?”

“...I guess you could look at it that way, yes.”

Nagito’s hand was still on his shoulder, and Hajime knew it should not have felt as comforting. For a short time, it felt like the first days on the island, with Nagito’s careless smile, with none of them remembering anything, and Nagito was someone who extended a hand to Hajime.

A lot had changed since then.

And before that too.

“I’m surprised you did not ask me to talk with him yet, though. Izuru, I mean.”

Nagito tilted his head a little, as if deep in thought.

“Ah… I don’t think he’d like to talk to trash like me.”

...there was the Nagito he got used to, and he just shook his head.

“Don’t be an idiot.”

There was a slight change in his tone, something that immediately made Nagito perk up, and his eyes widen with wonder.

Yeah. Definitely the same Nagito. And Hajime was sure that he felt some comforting stability from Izuru as well, when they both realized it. It might have been weird, to have Nagito of all people give some stability, but… their lives were already weird as it is.

-

It was time to go, after that, all of them in the boat, talking like there was nothing wrong, as they weren’t about to go back to the world they set on fire.

Time to put out the flames.

Everything else in their future had to wait.

They had to make sure everyone else had a future waiting for them too.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Maybe one day I'll write those wacky romcom hijinks where everyone here gets to make out finally, and Izuru gets some love too.


End file.
